A Parent-Teacher Conference
by Silver Supa
Summary: Post Episode 25. The only thing Professesor Finneran wants is simply one day to catch up on her work without having to deal with Kagari's antics. If nothing else, it's not actually Akko this time. "What kinda school is this? Why is my little Akko chasing missiles!"


Parent Teacher Conference

Professor Finneran bit back another yawn. With all the chaos that had plagued her school recently, going back to paper work was a breakneck change of pace. Between Croix's whole escapade, the dual identity of her fellow professor Ursula, and the honest-to-goodness Grand Triskelion itself being unlocked, Finneran had fallen far behind on managing her Linguistic and History classes. She was practically drowning in essays and homework that needed correcting. She was hardly the only professor who had fallen behind of course, and the Headmistress was nothing if not accommodating to both her students and staff, but nonetheless, if she could go one _week_ without a crisis to deal with, it would be too soon. 

' _Assuming a certain party of students can keep their noses clean for more than 5 minutes_ ,' she thought bitterly. Perhaps that wasn't entirely fair, and she could admit she had…misjudged one or two of them. To say the least. But it wasn't as if she was _wrong_ about their habit of causing trouble, was she?

As overwhelming as the stacks of papers decorating her desk were, it was much preferable to wearing her throat out in an attempt to discipline guilty parties, that shall remain nameless, or the stress of watching Luna Nova's newest professor fanning the flames to an international war. 

' _Between the nine of them, I'll be gray before the summer holidays.'_

Still, as easy as her backlog of work was compared to her hectic schedule as of late, she certainly wished she could enjoy the pleasant morning. The cold had cleared up and the sun was shining, and she found herself stealing glances out the window now and then to the lush green grass on the campus. It would've been a lovely day for a walk. Silencing a sigh, she was determined to get caught up on her work so she could enjoy a day without so much to stress her old nerves. As long as she could keep her focus she could easily finish the majority of this within the week. Assuming no one else on campus had any maniacal plans or grand conspiracies to attend to, of course. Next disaster, she was making Professor Pisces clean it up. She was much too focused on finishing her work to deal with something else. A focus that was slowly but surely inhibited as she began to register some sort of commotion down the hall from her door. Several people were talking quite…persistently. She couldn't quite make out the words or recognize the voices, but they sounded older than students, so surely it needn't concern her right now. Likely just a small dispute between the cleaning staff. Nothing that she need be involved with at the moment.

This was her professional opinion as dictated by her many years of experience as a Professor at the prestigious Luna Nova Academy, of course. It had nothing to do with her lack of patience to deal with any sort of trouble at the moment, because as a professional, she was above such pettiness.

Her professionalism also dictated that she would not groan like a child as the voices neared her door. Finneran did everything in her power to simply tune them out, but couldn't help but overhear the frantic words from beyond the suddenly all-too-thin mahogany of her office door. 

"Y-yes yes! I understand where you're coming from, bu- N-n-now, settle down, please! I am doing everything I can!" The nervous, stuttering voice belong to Professor Ursula, (Chariot? She didn't actually know what to call her anymore) who was clearly attempting to calm down the other voices. There was a woman, a very intense woman from the sound of her voice, and there seemed to be a man speaking in a more placating tone. She missed their words as confusion overtook her. Who was Ursula (Chariot?) talking to? Finneran couldn't place either voice.

"Of course I- please calm down! Of course I understand, miss!" the professor spoke outside her door. "B-but like I said, Headmistress Holbrooke is not available at the moment! B-but this is Professor Finneran's office, I believe she can help us address your complaints!"

That time, Finneran did let a groan. So much for her quiet focus. _'5 minutes!'_ she seethed to herself. _'Is that truly so long to ask for? Just 5 minutes?'_

Without so much as a knock, the door was practically thrown open, and Finneran jumped despite herself. "Goodness!"

Planted in her doorway was a woman who couldn't have been much older than forty, with dark hair and rounded features. Her brown eyes were glaring daggers into Finneran, and her mouth fixed into a very deep scowl. Over her shoulders Finneran spotted an older man with a dark beard, looking admonishingly at the woman, along with the red haired professor, who looked almost as taken aback with the woman's entrance as she was. She turned her gaze to Finneran, and gave a helpless smile. If it was meant to be calming or placating, it didn't work.

Finneran cleared her throat. One of them had to be a professional here. "Good day." She said, as though her office was not just rudely invaded. "I am Professor Anne Finneran. May I…help you with something today, miss…?"

Ursula spoke up instead. "Um, sorry to burst into your office so rudely, Professor! We…were hoping to speak with you to resolve something. Professor, this is Mr. and Mrs. Kagari."

Finneran did her absolute best to keep her face from faulting, her eyes from twitching. _'Oh NO.'_ It was not working. _'Atsuko AGAIN. How can just one witch drive me this close to an aneurysm this consistently?'_

"Ah." She spoke as flatly and neutrally as she could. Really, she was doing a commendable job, all things considered. "You must be…Atsuko's parents. How…nice to meet you. What might I d-"

"Hmph!" Mrs. Kagari interrupted, stomping over to her desk in no mood for pleasantries. "Well, I wish I could say the same!" Her hands were crushed into fists and practically bolted to her hips. From behind her, Mr. Kagari and Professor Ursula made their way in. Thankfully, much more quietly.

"Now honey, you're not wrong, but we oughta be more polite." The man spoke. "She is still a professor, after all." Mrs. Kagari rounded on her husband, somehow looking even more cross, but to his credit, Mr. Kagari barely flinched.

"She should act like it then! We wouldn't have had to come here otherwise!"

Professor Finneran bristled at that. It would be just like Atsuko's parents to burst into her office without so much as a greeting and insult her to her face. "I _assume_ , then" she started, keeping her voice level. "You have some sort of grievance you wish to discuss with me, Mrs. Kagari?" The woman whipped around, her glare once again boring into Finneran.

"You got that right! I'm here to talk 'bout _this!_ " She punctuated her sentence by slamming something down onto her desk, sending papers scattering to the floor. The object that now occupied her workspace was a smartphone, in a pink and white case, its screen was pitch black. Finneran merely glanced at it once, before raising her brow to the woman in front of her.

"What? Don't you see what's on the scre-"Mrs. Kagari looked down and seemed to realize the phone was not actually displaying anything on the screen. "Ack! Damn it, lemme see that…" she snatched the phone back from the desk, inputted a passcode, before slamming it right back down on her desk. Honestly, Finneran didn't know much about these phones, they weren't allowed on school premises, but this seemed like a good way to break it.

"There! _This_ is what I'm talkin' about!" Finneran looked back down at the phone screen to see what the fuss was about. There was a video playing on the screen, and it only took a few seconds for her to realize what she was seeing. On the screen was Atsuko Kagari and Diana Cavendish on their strange broom, chasing after the giant metal monstrosity that had been launched into the sky only a few days ago.

"What kinda school is this? Why is my little Akko chasing missiles?!"

"We do not tell our students to chase after missiles, Mrs. Kagari. That entire incident was done without the knowledge of Luna Nova."

Mrs. Kagari's glare, however, did not falter. "Why are there missiles anywhere near the school anyway? Is this how schools are in Europe?"

Finneran did her best not to pinch the bridge of her nose, seeing it as unprofessional. "I can assure you, this is not typical of Luna Nova."

Ursula took the moment to speak up. "Really, Luna Nova is quite safe for all witches who attend! The professors all do their best to give a great learning environment to all our students. It's just that Professor Croix's ambitions got a bit of out hand. You should be quite proud of Akko and how she handled it!"

The Kagaris just gaped at her. "Professor Croix?" Mr. Kagari spoke up. "Are you saying a teacher did this?"

Mrs. Kagari looked hysterical. "Y-Your professors are launching missiles at my little baby?!"

"FORMER teacher!" Finneran interrupted. "And if we're being perfectly honest, Atsuko causes quite enough trouble on school grounds to go around." Atsuko's mother did not look pleased with this fact, but frankly, someone had to put things into perspective.

"Your Akko's magic is disruptive, chaotic, and utterly destructive. This whole incident isn't the first major breach in Luna Nova's protocols."

The younger woman was having none of it. "Of _course_ she's not good at magic! That's why she's going to school for it!"

"Perhaps if she actually followed along in class, she would improve considerably. Between her blowing up all her spells and challenging dragons, she hardly keeps up with her work."

Ursula's face was pale as a ghost. "N-now, Professor, maybe we don't need to bring up all o-"

"DRAGONS?! Dragons?!" Mrs. Kagari looked ready to explode, and Finneran couldn't help but wince. It was clear where Atsuko got her…exubernece. "Your students fight dragons?!"

"N-now now! Professor Finneran is just…exaggerating! We really don-"

"Oh come now, Ursula. That girl is going to send me to an early grave. And let's not forget the time she and her team raised the dead."

"T-that had been an accident, so we can't really fault-"

"Raised the what? She raised the what?!"

Finneran payed no mind to any of her guests. This rant was a long time coming, and she no longer cared who heard her. "It's been one disaster after another. Do you know how many reports I've gotten about Atsuko being in the infirmary? She's shown no tact or respect for the rules, and had it been up to _me_ , she would've stopped attending long ago."

Mr. Kagari had been mostly content to let his wife speak. Given Akko's tone in her letters, he had thought his wife was overreacting travelling 9000 kilometers just to yell at the faculty, but even the soft-spoken man had his limits.

"Now, hold on just a minute, ma'am." She stepped past his wife to Finneran's desk, never breaking eye contact with the professor. "That's my daughter you're talking about!"

Ursula stood alone in the comer of the room, watching helplessly as her fellow professor got into a shouting match with Akko's parents. The Kagaris were too angry to let their concerns go unaddressed, and Finneran felt too insulted to even attempt to keep the situation in hand anymore. This had devolved into yet another disaster, but what could she really do at this point? Finneran seemed ready to throttle the Kagaris, and in turn the concerned parents were out for blood.

No, she couldn't just let this play out. Perhaps Finneran was too stressed to remember, or maybe it was her own personal connection to the young witch keeping her level, but Ursula had known right from the start that no matter what trouble Akko was in, she would do everything in her power to help her. Ursula was not a helpless girl, and it was time to act like it. She took a calming breath and planted her feet. She was a professor.

" _That's enough! From all of you!"_

And finally, the office quieted, as Professor Finneran and Akko's parents whipped around at the sudden outburst coming from the corner. The shy stuttering professor that had brought the couple into the room was gone, and for the first time her piercing red eyes bored into them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kagari, while I understand your concerns, I can assure you we do everything in our power to keep all our students safe. I have been personally monitoring Akko's performance since her arrival, and I can promise you I would never let any harm come to her."

"And!" She turned her glare to the stunned Professor Finneran. "While Akko may have difficulties following the rules and paying attention in class, she has shown repeatedly the marks of being a great witch, and has made huge improvements in her magic since she began. Even Professor Finneran can't deny her progress."

There was a challenge there, and Finneran did not look brave enough to face down Ursula again. She closed her eyes and relented, nodding in agreement. Akko's parents both looked quite taken aback at how fast the room shifted.

"Has…" Mr. Kagari spoke hesitantly, "Has Akko really accomplished so much? She sounds a little jealous in her letters." Ursula's face softened into a smile as she turned to address Akko's parents once more.

"Akko really has. I know I'm not alone in how proud I am of how far she's come. Even if we don't always _approve_ of her choices, Akko's always improving and learning. She's accomplished magical feats that have even impressed the teachers, and she's done so much to help her fellow witches. When she started, she had a lot of trouble with some basic magic, but by the time the Samhain Festival came, she overcame her difficulties and truly came into her own."

There were things Ursula was leaving unsaid, but when she saw Mrs. Kagari's eyes, which had burned in rage when she first demanded to speak to the people in charge, she saw how they had cooled into a soft, quiet gaze. There was a sparkle in there, the kind only a mother could have.

"She…she mentioned the Samhain Festival in her letters once, but she didn't really explain it much."

Ursula clasped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, Akko's performance was absolutely lovely! She truly was the star of the show that night. No one really expects much of the Sacrifice performance, but she went above and beyond and dazzled everyone!"

"Did she really?" Mrs. Kagari asked. "And what do you mean sacrifice?"

"Oh, her team was selected to be eaten by Vajarois, a ghost of eternal grief. But you see, Akko and her team went ahead and they-!"

In the Red Team's room, Akko sat on the edge of her bed, excitedly talking to her teammates.

"I'm sure of it this time guys! This time I'm going to fly all on my own!"

Lotte smiled brightly, "I believe in you, Akko! You've come so far, you're sure to get it down this time." Akko's face lit up at the encouragement.

"I don't know about that." Sucy spoke up. "She's been saying the same thing all year and she still can't get off the ground."

"Sucy!" Lotte admonished! "Be nice!" Akko, however, merely crossed her arms and smirked.

"That's what you think Sucy! With everything that's happened, I've got a _lot_ of experience flying on brooms now. It'll be a cinch to do it on my own! I'm gonna race circles aro-!" Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on their door.

"Eh? Were you guys expecting someone?"

Sucy shrugged, "I never invite anyone over. You two do." Lotte nodded.

"I didn't do anything. Answer it, Akko, see who it is." Akko stood up and opened their door, and suddenly began beaming.

"Mom! Dad!" She launched herself at her father, her arms wrapping around him. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Hello princess!" Her father said sweetly, lifting her off her feet like she was nothing. "Oh, are these your roommates you told us about? You really should write more, you know how we worry."

"Aw dad, I don't mean to forget, I just get excited, ya know?" Akko giggled. "You don't need to worry about me!"

Lotte stood up and bowed politely. "U-um! Hello! I'm Lotte, and this is Sucy! We're Akko's friends!"

Sucy made eye-contact for a brief moment. "What's up."

Lotte looked like she wanted her to be more polite, but didn't say anything. "You two came all the way from Japan, right? That's pretty far to visit your daughter!"

Mr. Kagari smiled. "Hee hee, it was pretty far, but no distance is too great for our little Akko!" From behind him, Mrs. Kagari smiled and stepped past her husband and daughter's embrace.

"Besides!" She smiled sweetly. "We're not here just to visit! We're here to take her out of this awful school!"

"Eh?" Akko looked up suddenly.

"So!" Mrs. Kagari continued. "If you could help us gather her stuff, it'd be really nice! Come on now, dear!" Mr. Kagari lifted the bewildered Akko over his shoulder and began to make his way out the door.

"EEEHHHH?! Wait, what's going- wait, huh?!"


End file.
